THE REV. H. R. HAWEIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10376, 3 June 1895, Page 3

THE REV. H. R. HAWEIS.

FOURTH LECTURE.

The Rev. H. R. Haweis gave his concluding lecture in tbe Garrison Hali on Saturday night> his subject being'"Marriage: Is it a Failure?'' There was a large attendance upon the occasion; but not so large a.s might have been expected considering the. subject and the. ability of the lecturer. The theme was treated very largely from a humorous point of view, but the «raver aspects of it were by no means overlooked. Mr Haweis commenced by referring to the difficult ies of the subject, arid subsequently alluded to Mrs Mona Ctiird's famous article on "Marriage" in the "Westminster Review," in which the writer maintained that, marriage as at'present, constituted was a vexatious failure. He held that Mrs Caird's remedy for unhappy marriagest—viz, a free contract between tho parties that might be dissolved by them at will without any outside interference—was no remedy at all; it was cutting the knot instead of untying it, and was like cutting one's head off to cure the toothache. As evidence of the futility of the proposed remedy lie referred to the lives of two of the most remarkable woman of tbe century—namely, George Sand and Ge«rße Eliot. In the case of tbe former the experiment of a free contract in marriage resulted in disaster, disillusionriient, and disappointment. In the case of l-'edrge Elior, after the death of Mr, George H. Lewes there was a voluntary and gratuitous recantation of her teiching. Speaking oh the matter of divorce; he expressed the opinion that the divorce laws in England were too. rigid and too lax in America atid Australia; and also said that he thought thore should be uniform marriage and divorce laws throughout the British Kmpive. He was further of the opinion that any modification of the existing laws relating to marriage would be in the direction of giving the individual iflore pdwer over himSelf, and limiting tbe power of the State over the individual. He also touched upon various otter pbasss of the raaniage question, and concluded by giviiig what he facetiously described as a number of patent recipes for securing matrimnnial happiness.. The lecture ap; peai-ed to be highly appreciated by the audience, who were frequently moved to hearty detnonstratiohs of approval.